"Teaser Tuesday"

I had intended to make myself a lovely little afternoon tea assortment to bring for lunch today, until my evening plans changed and I didn't spend any time in my kitchen last night after cooking up some bratwurst for dinner and then washing a sinkful of dishes. (I got to spend my evening with Tom instead ... excellent trade-off, if I may say so!!!)

Anyway, because I was rushed, I ended up slapping together a huge vegetable sandwich with avocado, cucumbers, tomato, red onion and lettuce instead, which was really wonderful ... but not quite what I'd envisioned.

For some reason, I've been fixated upon the dainty little cucumber sandwiches (likely because I bought some beautiful specimens at the Westside Farmers' Market last week), the pretty little cookies (having found some chocolate-filled chocolate cookies -- yeah! -- at the Om Market recently), and tea (iced tea -- that was an easy one to navigate to!). It will happen ... it has to! I'll be home tonight playing "catch up," so I can do laundry and pit cherries and bake cookies and clean and make a pitcher of iced tea while I'm at it. So maybe tomorrow I can indulge myself ....

But rather than leave a day without some semblance of tossing myself out into the cyber-fray -- can't risk having anyone forget lil' ol' moi, after all! -- I have put together this quickie post instead. It has nothing to do with afternoon tea, but is food-related nonetheless.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading and, as she states, "Anyone can play along! Just do the following":

Grab your current read.

Okay.

Open to a random page.

Page 132.

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

"With a start of asparagus tricolore -- three colors -- under shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano and panna cotta covered with crushed strawberries for dessert, I felt pretty good about the menu."

"The four brothers who owned the operation -- Angelo, Mario, Remo, and Lino Soppani -- held fast to one credo that worked its way throughout the ranks of chefs, cooks, pot washers, counter personnel, and me, the lone intern: if you start every day with a dedication to being the best, then greatness will be achieved and maintained over time."

Share the title & author, too, so that other participants can add the book to their "to be read" lists if they like your teasers!

Mediterranean Summer: A Season on France's Cote d'Azur and Italy's Costa Bella by David Shalleck with Erol Munus with a foreword by Mario Batali.

I've been trying to finish this book for months and months now ... I love it, but there's just not enough time to do everything! It's the story of a chef who needed a new adventure in his life, who ended up becoming the private cook on a yacht touring the Mediterranean for a summer ... sigh. Of course, such a prospect would undoubtedly require far more work, far more planning, far more organization, and far more effort than one would necessarily want in one's life; but oh, to be under such stress on a teakwood yacht surrounded by gorgeous scenery and with the most extraordinary food items available when in port!!! A girl can dream ... :)

I'd also like to engage in what might seem like a bit of self-promotion, though it's certainly not intended as such. A very lovely woman named Sheila emailed me the other day telling me how much she loved a granola recipe of mine that she'd seen in one of the Taste of Home publications, and asking if she could feature it on her blog ... wow! Well, today's the day! So go check out her blog -- Reforming U -- and follow her so that you don't miss any of her fabulous recipes (like one I saw the other day that included a blueberry salsa) or fitness tips (which God knows I need desperately). Sheila is just starting this venture, so go show her some love!